Morton girls go on run heading into 2014

Morton's Sarah Walden puts up a shot under the basket in a Dec. 17 game against Willowbrook. Even with injuries, Walden and the Mustangs performed well at the Riverside Brookfield holiday tournament.

BERWYN – Morton girls basketball coach Joe Maietta thought his team could go on a run to close the 2013 calendar year.

His team proved him correct.

The Mustangs beat Downers Grove South on Dec. 20, their first win over DGS in over a decade, and then went 3-2 at the Riverside Brookfield Holiday Tournament despite battling injuries.

Morton lost its tournament opener to Nazareth 56-46; the Roadrunners went on to win the tournament. Morton beat Reavis 51-39 and Lane Tech 43-30 to finish second in its pool, but leading scorer Maryam Wilcher sprained her ankle against Lane Tech and sat out the final two placement games, which Morton split.

“The injury bug got us a little bit, but we were happy to split those two games Saturday without Maryam,” Maietta said.

Without Maietta, Morton lost to Reavis, which it had defeated two days earlier, and beat Argo in double overtime. The Mustangs brought an 8-9 record into yesterday’s rematch with the Argonauts.

Maietta mentioned Shannon Fricke, Sarah Walden, Jasmine Morris and Chloe Maietta for having solid tournament showings, as well. Still, Wilcher is the Mustangs’ go-to player, and they will want her healthy as soon as possible. She made the all-tournament team at RB.

“With her size it creates a lot of mismatches,” Maietta said of his 6-foot guard. “She can take a kid off the dribble and post up or lead the break. She’s a big target so she helps against the press.”

Morton returns to conference play Friday against Leyden, which is winless in the West Suburban Gold.

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